Chase Ink Retention: A $95 Fee to Stay

Some people have great luck with retention offers. Besides Citi who comes to my house and serenades me to stay, the other banks are hit or miss. Amex has never given me an offer for my SPG cards which I’ve had the longest. US Bank didn’t want me as a customer in the first place so they’ll gladly close the account quickly and hang up promptly. This brings me to today’s Chase call.

Like my SPG cards, I’ve had the Chase Ink for a while now (though this is Ink #3.) and have never received a retention offer. Anyhow, the Ink card benefits are well documented so it was not my intention to cancel. Instead, I wanted one of two things: 1) A statement credit of $95 2) to downgrade to the no annual fee version which still provides the benefits that I utilize.

The answer was no to the first and no to the second. I was told that I wasn’t eligible to downgrade. My only option was to cancel the current Ink and apply for the no annual fee alternative.

I don’t even know how to describe how confused I was at my options, or lack thereof. First, there is no way I could apply for the no annual fee Ink with Chase’s anti-churning laws. Second, really, you can’t just downgrade me to the no annual fee version?

Are you as shocked as I was? Obviously, I’m going to call back and hope my luck turns. Otherwise, Chase has another $95 coming their way. I hope I didn’t just give away all my bargaining power by disclosing that fact.

When I’m a good customer who pays the fee year after year without a fuss, I never get the breaks. When I turn into the ugly, angry customer who complains about everything, I preemptively get free stuff just to keep me quiet. What precedent are they setting?